Wow, this is the fun part!!! There's no moment like the first time a truck fires!
OK - so, first off, I'll throw this out: my mechanic buddy, and others, shy away from starter fluid. Something about its explosiveness blowing holes in the pistons or something. Never had a problem with it personally, but others claim to have, and heck, one time is one time too many. We use gasoline in a squirt bottle - which is fairly controllable. Only put a little in the bottle at a time, for safety. Any-who . . .
You didn't mention the carb: Is the carb on the manifold? I'm guessing this truck would have had the same-ish Carter W-1 that the 216 had until about 1950.
If you take the valve cover off, do all the rocker arms seem like their moving ok? And if you pull all the spark plugs and feel the holes while it turns over, can you feel compression in each cylinder hole? Any chance of doing a proper compression test?
Regardless, If 3B's method doesn't work for you, here's how we rough-time it: As you can see by the firing order that 3B gave, cylinder six is the "sympathetic" cylinder to #1. That means that as #1 approaches top-dead center, number six is approaching valve overlap, exactly 180 degrees opposite #1. This gives us a way to use #6 to determine where #1 TDC is.
So, as you turn the engine over, watch the valves on number six (at the rear). When you see the exhaust rocker (dead last one) go down, pay close attention. Keep going slowly, and watch the #6 intake rocker arm (second-to-last rocker at the rear). When it starts to go down (open) and the exhaust is starting to come up (close), that's overlap. Stop turning.
You should be very close to TDC. You can check the hole on the passenger side of the bell-housing, with a pointer sticking down in the middle. Shine a flashlight down there, and look for a mark on the flywheel. There is a BB at exact TDC, with a triangle before it (I think I'm remembering this right). Either way, you're close enough to check the rotor, which should be pointed toward the wire going to #1 cylinder. To get it exactly, keep turning really slowly until the BB is lined up on the pointer.
You can then loosen and rotate the distributor so that the points are JUST opening. You should be able to eye-ball this close enough to get fire out of her. If you really wanna be precise, you can clip the leads of your multi-meter (in continuity mode) to the two posts on the outside of the distrib. body. (or, on the post on the coil side with one lead, and ground on the other). You should get tone (continuity) when the points are still touching, lose tone the instant they open.
By-the-way, if you don't have an easy way to turn the engine over by hand, my buddy taught me to, from the driver's side, push in on the fan belt with one hand to keep it tight, and turn the fan clockwise (pull it toward you over the top) with the other. This 'll only work with the plugs out (oh . . . and the truck in neutral!) but it works good for me.
OK - I've probably botched something here, but someone will chime in to correct me in a minute . . .
-Michael
